Posted in Running, Travel

Disney Princess Races

The night before the 10k race, I told myself that I would try to be asleep by 9pm in order to wake up at 3am to be at Epcot parking lot on time. That did not happen. It was really difficult for me to sleep so early, especially given the time difference. By trying to go to sleep at 9pm, it was like trying to go to sleep at 6pm! Plus, I was a bit scared of spending the night in a different state by myself, so that didn’t help. I eventually fell asleep around 11pm or so. I woke up a little before 3 am. I had scheduled an uber to pick me up at 330am, so right at that time, I went outside. I got the message that they were on their way. However, after waiting outside for 15 minutes, the driver cancelled! I was so mad. Had to request another uber and waited an extra 15-20 minutes.

10k
For the 10k race, I was in corral B. Although I have done many 10k races before, I was still pretty nervous about this one. Mainly because I had heard so many bad things about the Disney Princess races. I did much better than expected though. I finished in 1:04 hours. However, I didn’t end up stopping for any character stops. After the race was over, i did take a few pictures. I took pictures with both Ariel and my favorite Disney princess, Belle.

Half Marathon
For the half marathon, I was in corral C. This time, I made sure to try to stop for as many character stops as I could. I got to the Epcot parking lot around 330am. Since I was so early, I was able to take a picture with Anna from Frozen! I waited about an hour in line. After that was over, I went to the corrals. There were so many people! I think at least 15,000+ people ran/walked the Princess half marathon.

So I ended up running my second slowest time ever, 2:36 hours! But it didn’t matter because I had fun. I took pictures with at least 5-7 characters.

Posted in Running

My first half marathon and 10k

A year ago I couldn’t have imagined running more than 1 mile at a time. This month, I ran my first 10k race (6.2 miles) and my first half marathon (13.1 miles).

My first half marathon (February 5, 2017) was really tough. It took place at the Surf City half marathon in Huntington Beach, California. My official race time was 3 hours and 29 minutes. Much worse than my goal time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. I started training for it at the end of December, but was having problems with my left knee at the end of January, so I didn’t run as much as I could have. I have another half marathon in May and I am hoping to train more and be better prepared for that run. My goal for that one will be 2 hours and 45 minutes. 

My first 10k race was Run to Remember LA, (February 12, 2017) which was a week after my half marathon, and it took place in Los Angeles, starting at The Grove and passing through Paramount Pictures studio. This was a much better race for me. My time was 1 hour and 9 minutes. My goal had been 1 hour and 10 minutes.

While many people might not understand why runners like to run so much, running has definitely improved my life. I feel happier, healthier, and stronger.